road rage

Cycling and The Law (from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation website)

A bicycle is a vehicle under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA). This means that, as a cyclist, you have the same rights and responsibilities to obey all traffic laws as other road users. Cyclists charged for disobeying traffic laws will be subject to a minimum set fine.

The following are key sections of the HTA concerning cyclists:

HTA 144/136 - Traffic signals and signs - drivers shall stop for red lights and stop signs and comply with all other signs. Set fine: $85.00

um, are you kidding me? cyclists are required by law to obey all traffic laws? there are traffic laws for cyclists? are cyclists aware of this? are any of them aware of this?

i have chosen two of the 228 current sections of ontario's highway traffic act as an example. sections 136 and 144 of the hta require all cyclists to come to a complete stop at all red lights and stop signs. i have been driving a car in the city of toronto for more than twenty years now. i can honestly say that i can probably count on one hand the number of times a cyclist has come to a stop at a stop sign in my presence. and if a cyclist did come to a stop at a stop sign in my presence, it was only because that cyclist was about to enter an extremely busy intersection and had no choice but to stop to avoid, say, being killed by a passing vehicle (those of the two tonne variety no less). but in the middle of the day, in a quiet residential neighbourhood, asking a cyclist to stop peddling at a passing stop sign is like asking a chihuahua to stop barking at a passing dalmation. uh, it ain't gonna happen, kids. but what really irks me about cyclists is their sanctimonious, holier-than-thou attitude towards all other vehicles on the road. cyclists are the first to complain when a motorist cuts them off or throws open a car door. but could you imagine the carnage on the roads that would ensue if motorists flouted traffic regulations with the same frequency that cyclists do? here's the 411 on motor vehicle drivers. the vast majority of motorists adhere to the vast majority of traffic laws. now here's the scoop on bicycle operators. the vast majority of cyclists flagrantly disregard the vast majority of traffic rules. this ain't theory, folks. this is fact. just get into your car and see for yourselves. drive through any bedroom community in the city of toronto and observe the behaviour of the typical cyclist as compared to the typical motorist. i will summarize my own observations for you now. the typical cyclist will use the road any way he/she sees fit. if a cyclist is approaching a red light and there doesn't appear to be any cross-traffic, that cyclist will simply speed through the traffic signal. scofflaw! the typical motorist, on the other hand, will most certainly come to a complete stop for the duration of that same red light. this occurs even when there is no cross-traffic to speak of. in fact, in all of my years of driving, i have probably spotted fewer than a dozen cars run a red light, and most of those incidents occurred as a result of driver error (as the motorist was simply not paying attention). at the same time, over the past twenty years or so, i have probably witnessed perhaps a dozen cyclists actually wait out a red light at a quiet intersection. the rules of the road simply do not apply to cyclists, it would appear.

i really have to write down some of the funny stuff that i hear from the kids at work. maybe they remember what they said this afternoon that had me rolling in the aisles with laughter, because i sure as hell don't.

so how come we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLoUTBy47U&feature=related